Power loss analysis of Traditional PV array Configurations under different shading conditions

Abstract

Energy is an important criterion for economic progress nowadays. In general, more energy has been derived from fossil fuels in recent years. The world is using renewable energy sources to meet huge electricity needs due to scarcity and environmental risk issues. Photovoltaic (PV) energy is extensively used in the renewable energy sources because it is the most abundant energy source in nature, a simple energy conversion process. But solar cell capacity is very sensitive to non-uniform shading conditions. Also due to the unbalanced properties between the PV panels it produces a small amount of power and they cannot be operated with maximum energy value. One of the possible solutions is to mitigate this problem by connecting PV modules in different arrangements. In this article, seven traditional PV series topologies are: Series - S, Series Parallel - SP, Total Cross Tie - TCT, Bridge Link - BL, Honeycomb - HC, Triple Cross tie - TT, And Ladder - LD, analysed using a 6 × 6 PV range with different shading patterns using the SunPower SPR-76R-BLK-U PV module in the MATLAB/Simulink software. Theoretical analysis was performed for each arrangement under all shading conditions and can be compared with simulation results. In all PV range configurations and most shading conditions, TCT offers outstanding performance in terms of mismatched power loss, shading loss, misleading loss, fill factor and efficiency.